Radio Online recently interviewed XAPPmedia co-founder and CEO Pat Higbie. In a Q&A, he explains how mobile audio is reigniting radio revenue growth, describes the value digital marketing brings to the radio industry, and why digital is a premium asset for broadcasters looking to grow revenue and audience.

In a MediaPost column published today, XAPPmedia CEO Pat Higbie comments on the projected broadcast radio advertising spend for 2016. The forecast? Flat. Even in anticipation of lucrative election ad spend.

Radio broadcasters have long considered the experience of live and local to be their greatest asset in attracting and maintaining audience. That experience is too often undermined by long stopsets of advertisements that motivate listeners to choose another station or another audio channel altogether.

Mobile devices have changed how and when consumers interact with digital media. The rapid proliferation of smartphones in particular has both created new consumption habits for digital media and diverted consumer attention away from traditional media. But there are really two definitions of mobile media.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) just published “A Digital Audio Buyers Guide.” The guide is the result of the collaborative efforts of a number of industry leaders in digital audio. Pandora, Spotify, iHeartMedia, Triton Digital, CBS Interactive, Google, XAPPmedia and others participated in putting the guide together. The guide is a valuable tool for those in the industry tasked with buying digital media in a rapidly changing market.

At XAPP, we recognize that the listening experience, particularly on mobile devices, rarely involves looking at the screen. More often than not, the audio app is in the background and not visible on the device. We present you the Voice Click, a new way to connect consumers to brands.

The XAPPmedia research team pulled together market data from Arbitron, BIA/Kelsey, Digital Music News, Edison Research, eMarketer, Forrester, RAB, Triton Digital and Internet radio publishers to create an infographic that provides a comprehensive view of the shift to mobile in the radio internet market.